Five Preview Performances Of DAVE Canceled at Arena Stage; Douglas Sills Sidelined Due to Illness

The first five preview performances of the world-premiere musical Dave have been cancelled due to actor illness; preview performances will now begin on Wednesday, July 18, 2018.

Actor Douglas Sills, playing Chief of Staff Bob Alexander, has had minor unexpected surgery and we expect a speedy recovery for him. While Douglas recovers, Dave cast member Jared Bradshaw will step into the role of Bob Alexander. Thomas Adrian Simpson (Arena Stage's A Raisin in the Sun and Carousel) will also join the ensemble.

By three-time Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan (Annie, Hairspray, The Producers), two-time Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin (Mean Girls, Legally Blonde) and Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, If/Then), Dave is inspired by the Academy Award-nominated American political comedy film. The world-premiere engagement is produced by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, The Donners' Company and Larger Than Life. Under the direction of Tony Award nominee Tina Landau, and with choreography by Tony Award nominee Sam Pinkleton and music direction by Rob Berman, Dave will now run July 18-August 19, 2018 in the Kreeger Theater.

A member of the Arena Stage sales team will contact all patrons holding tickets for the first five preview performances, with an option to exchange into any other performance of Dave.

Thomas Adrian Simpson's Arena Stage credits include A Raisin in the Sun, Carousel, Oliver!, Fiddler on the Roof, Mary T. & Lizzy K., My Fair Lady and The Light in the Piazza, among others. D.C. credits include The Threepenny Opera and Company (Signature Theatre); Orphie and the Book of Heroes (Kennedy Center); 1776 and Liberty Smith (Ford's Theatre); and Candide and The Boys from Syracuse (Shakespeare Theatre Company). Regional credits include Candide (Goodman); Quixote in Man of La Mancha (Wayside Theatre); 9 to 5 with Sally Struthers and Les Misérables (Riverside Center); and Outside Mullingar (New Mexico's Fusion Theatre). Tom is a graduate of the U.N.C. School of the Arts.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Producer Edgar Dobie, is a national center dedicated to American voices and artists. Arena Stage produces plays of all that is passionate, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit, and presents diverse and ground-breaking work from some of the best artists around the country. Arena Stage is committed to commissioning and developing new plays and impacts the lives of over 10,000 students annually through its work in community engagement. Now in its seventh decade, Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 300,000. arenastage.org.